Misora yuku kumo ni mogamo na kyō yukite imo ni kotodoi asu kaerikomu

み空行く雲にもがもな今日行きて
妹に言どひ明日帰り来む

Roma-ji: Misora yuku kumo ni mogamo na kyō yukite imo ni kotodoi asu kaerikomu
English Translation: Through the sky they go—
oh, if only I were a cloud!
Going there today,
I would speak with my dear love,
and tomorrow come back home.
Meaning: Oh, to be a cloud crossing the sky! I would go today, talk with my beloved, and come back tomorrow.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3510

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
If only he could become a cloud moving across the sky, the traveler wishes, he could go to his beloved today, talk with her, and return tomorrow. Envy of the cloud's freedom carries his urgent longing to meet one far away.
It is one of the love exchanges. From this poem through 3520, poems about clouds follow one another, forming what might be called a cloud sequence.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "misora yuku": "Mi" is a prefix: crossing the great sky. It is the first line of the cloud sequence.
Second line, "kumo ni mogamo na": "Mogamo na" expresses a wish: if only I were a cloud. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "kyō yukite": "Going today," paired with "tomorrow" in the last line.
Fourth line, "imo ni kotodoi": "Kotodoi" is talking together.
Final line, "asu kaerikomu": "I will return tomorrow," with "mu" showing intention, paired with "today" in the third line.
Source: Manyoshu
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